"Police had faced discipline before; Ex-US attorney will review fan's death" by Shelley Murphy and Maria Cramer, Globe Staff | July 3, 2008
A lawyer for David Woodman's family voiced outrage yesterday after learning that two of the nine officers who were with the 22-year-old Brookline man when he stopped breathing as he was being taken into custody during the Celtics championship celebration on June 18 had previously been disciplined, one for domestic violence and the other for a lack of judgment in dealing with a shooting suspect.
The prior complaints against the officers "could indicate they have anger management problems," said Howard Friedman, who represents the parents of Woodman, a former Emmanuel College student who died in the hospital 11 days after his encounter with the officers.
Friedman said there are unanswered questions about who started the encounter with Woodman. "We're still in the dark," Friedman said. "But if one of these officers were involved or were the lead, that would be a sign of a more serious problem. That would shed new light on the entire incident."
Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said that neither of the two officers initiated Woodman's arrest, and that one had no physical contact with him, while the other helped push Woodman's arm behind his back while he was resisting arrest.
"There was a violent resistance to an arrest, and the incident was over very, very quickly," Davis said in a telephone interview.
You sure wish it would be, don't you, murderer?
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